Xerces Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Its a real testament to your strength as a person to be able to come through that and make it to this point in your life of contentment. You're an inspiration to us all here and I am glad you posted your story for the first time Mr Pappy. It really makes a world of difference to just get it out there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foolish girl Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Beautiful. You found Heaven after all. What an awesome thing to say! Thank you FG ... thank you, and take my kisses all over your face! Garsh .......Back attcha Pappy . P.S....I bet I am not the only one who thinks you are wonderful for responding to every person. How could ANYONE be disappointed with how you turned out....? for goodness sakes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Astounding story. You've taken me in. You have a true soul. It's so sad others are trapped in their fears to not see what beauty there is beyond their own walls. I'm at a loss for greater words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pappy Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 ... I am glad you posted your story for the first time Mr Pappy. It really makes a world of difference to just get it out there. How right you are X ... One is never to old to learn, and I have certainly learned a valuable lesson here over the last 24 hours. I feel so much better - the kind of better that one doesn't realize is there until they feel it, but it's good. Garsh .......Back attcha Pappy . You have made my day twice now, and I am all covered in lipstick! It's so sad others are trapped in their fears to not see what beauty there is beyond their own walls. And fear is what they have for sale - by the truck load. What gets me is how fast they sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franciscan Monkey Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Wow, an amazing story, one that rather poignantly displays the harm that Christianity can bring. Thank you. Wishing you all the best in life, although it looks like you've already found it. Respectfully, Franciscan Monkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pappy Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 Wishing you all the best in life, although it looks like you've already found it. Thank you for the kind wishes and for taking the time to read my story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest I Love Dog Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 My entire family - Mom and Dad excluded - have told me to jump in a lake; a lake of fire specifically. I have divorced my "wonderful Christian girl" thirteen years ago. Two of my sons by her refuse to call me their father. I am not worthy of that title seeing that I have rejected Christ. My brother, who I loved more than I can tell you, has not spoken to me in thirteen years. My baby sister, who was too young to understand, now understands that I have committed the "unpardonable sin" and cannot be saved - thus she has abandoned me. She "cannot bear the anguish of loving me". My uncles will not speak my name in private or public, and the rest of the family has followed suit, to my knowledge. Mister P, this brought me to tears, it was so sad. Religion has much to answer for in this world. How on Earth can a belief be so important that it divides families, puts brother against brother, etc? A belief is just a belief, nothing more, no different or better than non-belief. Hope you get the son that you are trying for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pappy Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 Hope you get the son that you are trying for. Dog ... thank you for what you have said, and I am working on that boy - not at this very moment, but you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asanerman Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 What can I say Pappy that hasn't been said already? Some years ago I read this: "...freedom lies on the far side of discipline: the present may only be inhabited by the man [or woman] who lives in full resonance with his/her past and future; awareness is complete only when it vibrates with memory and expectation; spontaneity belongs only to the person who has taken responsibility for his projections; innocence is received only after compulsion has been recognized. Freedom, seasoned innocence, spontaneity, novelty, living in the present are marks of maturity which are gained only by the long process of finding one's way back form the exile which culture, ignorance and cowardice impose upon us all" To A Dancing God by Sam Keen Truly I sense the "marks of maturity" in your words. As you share the terrain of your inward and outward journey I am convinced that "grace can be defined as "a sudden reorganization, in a more economical manner, of perceptions, attitudes, and dispositions which results in a relaxation of inner and outer conflicts and in liberation of previously bound energies for projects and relationships which are satisfying to the maturing self. Grace is a happening rather than an achievement, a gift rather than a reward. By lessening the alienation between self and self, self and others, self and the world, it creates the possibility of action which is integral to the past for a present and a future containing genuine novelty. The good new is that there is no automatic dispenser of grace. There is no magic, no saviors. My final dignity is in my ability to choose my style of life. Graceful freedom is having the courage to be satisfied. Grace happens to an individual who bears a unique biography and destiny and not to an anonymous body governed by the imperative of autonomous laws. I may speak of grace only in the first person. Many thanks in particular for gracing me with your unique, personal and novel biography. saner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnceConvinced Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Great to read your story Pappy. Although I was no golden child, I can relate in many ways. I was seen as a great Christian kid with a huge future too. I remember a former Sunday School teacher saying he was surprised when I didn't win a scripture memorising competition at a church camp. He said "I was sure he would win it". When I was 16 I was handpicked to attend a Children's camp as a leader and the kids called me Uncle. Like you, i don't say this stuff to blow my own trumpet, but it sure goes to show you just how deluded Christians are and there is no holy spirit discernment in any of them, proving without a doubt that holy spirit is non-existant. Yep, indoctronation is a powerful and awful thing. It's sad that your family have treated you the way they have. So much for Jesus in their lives! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildCat Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Congratulations for breaking free. The reaction of your family surprised me. As far as I know,or at least what I was told, Christianity is a religion of forgiveness and love, and Jesus never forced anyone to follow him. A Muslim apostate is ostracized by his people or might even gets killed, and this is normal to them, since they are following the teachings of Mohammad. But Jesus never issued such an order, he did not say: follow me or you will be dismissed and ostracized. Anyway, I do not think that the attitude of your relatives has an impact on you since you established a new life and you are fully satisfied with it. Congratulations, again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Pappy Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 Many thanks in particular for gracing me with your unique, personal and novel biography. No ... thank you ... for reading and responding to my story. ... indoctronation is a powerful and awful thing. well said Convinced ... well said ... Jesus never issued such an order, he did not say: follow me or you will be dismissed and ostracized. You are correct, but my experience has led me to understand that the ostracizing comes not from a direct order from the Bible - rather as a human reaction to the inability to reconcile reality with belief. They believe that I am going to hell, and that there is no hope for reconciliation with God for me. I have committed the "unpardonable sin", therefore I am lost to them forever - in eternity. That pain cannot be carried through life without a serious disruption of their happiness. They are unable to reconcile their pain for my lost soul, which they "believe to be real" with a "real reality". It is easier - perhaps inevitable - that they amputate the cancer lest it consume them entirely. I understand how they must feel. Thankfully, my parents have deluded themselves with the possibility that there is hope for me, or I would likely have suffered the same from them. I will take the good in whatever fashion it chooses to present itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted January 20, 2011 Super Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2011 ... Christianity is a religion of forgiveness and love ... Jesus never issued such an order, he did not say: follow me or you will be dismissed and ostracized. While Jesus didn't use your exact words, his not-so-family-friendly "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" rants as presented in Matthew and Luke, are the justification that many xtians use in dismissing and ostracizing non-christians, including their own family. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and a man's foes will be those of his own household. 37He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; (Matt. 10:35-37; Luke 12:51-53) 29And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. (Matt. 19:29) 26"If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26) IMO and experience, Christianity is a religion of control, not of love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 ... Christianity is a religion of forgiveness and love ... Jesus never issued such an order, he did not say: follow me or you will be dismissed and ostracized. While Jesus didn't use your exact words, his not-so-family-friendly "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" rants as presented in Matthew and Luke, are the justification that many xtians use in dismissing and ostracizing non-christians, including their own family. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and a man's foes will be those of his own household. 37He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; (Matt. 10:35-37; Luke 12:51-53) 29And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. (Matt. 19:29) 26"If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26) IMO and experience, Christianity is a religion of control, not of love. That's very interesting actually. What Pappy is doing, in actuality is fulfilling what the real gist of those verses mean. If you understand that what those mean is that the pursuit of higher truth, being true to that light in you, should be the first priority of ones life, and that in so doing the result may be breaking with the traditions and customs, the norms, of family and friends. And the result of that is exactly what Pappy has described. The sword came. I read the symbolism of these things beyond the literal reading. The meaning is that to cling to your world around you to fulfill you, and not first pursue that greater truth deprives one of the higher meaning of all those things and relationships, but to pursue and prioritize higher truth first at the end of the day the result is a greater and higher realization of all of them where then, "all these things shall be added unto you", and such. But to pursue that higher truth (in the context of that day symbolized in following the teachings of Jesus), will result in divisions. Higher truth always exists, and each age finds a new way into that, and to do this will often result is breaking with family and they result in rejection and isolation from the group. It's the brave path. So Pappy in this sense is in fact the "true believer". Ironic, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanta Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 ... Christianity is a religion of forgiveness and love ... Jesus never issued such an order, he did not say: follow me or you will be dismissed and ostracized. While Jesus didn't use your exact words, his not-so-family-friendly "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword" rants as presented in Matthew and Luke, are the justification that many xtians use in dismissing and ostracizing non-christians, including their own family. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and a man's foes will be those of his own household. 37He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; (Matt. 10:35-37; Luke 12:51-53) 29And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. (Matt. 19:29) 26"If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26) IMO and experience, Christianity is a religion of control, not of love. That's very interesting actually. What Pappy is doing, in actuality is fulfilling what the real gist of those verses mean. If you understand that what those mean is that the pursuit of higher truth, being true to that light in you, should be the first priority of ones life, and that in so doing the result may be breaking with the traditions and customs, the norms, of family and friends. And the result of that is exactly what Pappy has described. The sword came. I read the symbolism of these things beyond the literal reading. The meaning is that to cling to your world around you to fulfill you, and not first pursue that greater truth deprives one of the higher meaning of all those things and relationships, but to pursue and prioritize higher truth first at the end of the day the result is a greater and higher realization of all of them where then, "all these things shall be added unto you", and such. But to pursue that higher truth (in the context of that day symbolized in following the teachings of Jesus), will result in divisions. Higher truth always exists, and each age finds a new way into that, and to do this will often result is breaking with family and the result in rejection and isolation from the group. It's the brave path. So Pappy in this sense is in fact the "true believer". Ironic, isn't it? Woah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryper Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 AM and Pappy, it would seem then you(pappy) fullfilled your parents image of you as "the golden child". Leading and showing the way to the truth of a life without god. yet you seems to have expanded further by then shedding the family image and becoming a light and hope to other by sharing the effects of the sword in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted January 20, 2011 Super Moderator Share Posted January 20, 2011 That's very interesting actually. What Pappy is doing, in actuality is fulfilling what the real gist of those verses mean. If you understand that what those mean is that the pursuit of higher truth, being true to that light in you, should be the first priority of ones life, and that in so doing the result may be breaking with the traditions and customs, the norms, of family and friends. And the result of that is exactly what Pappy has described. The sword came. I read the symbolism of these things beyond the literal reading. The meaning is that to cling to your world around you to fulfill you, and not first pursue that greater truth deprives one of the higher meaning of all those things and relationships, but to pursue and prioritize higher truth first at the end of the day the result is a greater and higher realization of all of them where then, "all these things shall be added unto you", and such. But to pursue that higher truth (in the context of that day symbolized in following the teachings of Jesus), will result in divisions. Higher truth always exists, and each age finds a new way into that, and to do this will often result is breaking with family and the result in rejection and isolation from the group. It's the brave path. So Pappy in this sense is in fact the "true believer". Ironic, isn't it? As one who was never a biblical-literalist myself, I completely agree that Pappy is the "true believer". Most of us here at Ex-C are "true believers" on the brave path. However, with living right in the middle of the Robertsons, Falwells, and "Home-Skool Colledge" (aka Patrick Henry College), I see the literal interpretation lived out on a daily basis and by far too many people. Quite sad. Back in the day when I still cared enough to debate with biblical literalists, I used to say that God would not be happy with us using His Word to hurt His Children. Of course, I was then bashed over the head with the bible by his loving children. (Not literally -- although for some people, it probably was a miracle that restrained them!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asanerman Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Antlerman Thanks for going "beyond...literal reading." Wisdom and truth are often disguised as irony. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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